Taking off the Mask
by Gaurdianangelzelos
Summary: He wore a mask a mask to hide who he was.  She wore a mask to hide what she was.  Together, they will face their pasts, and look toward the future.  ZelosRaine, Oneshot, Raine's POV.


_Hey everyone! I guess I'll put my own thingamabob here and start making a habit out of it. For all the people who have read my other stories (and reviewed them) I thank you from the bottom of my heart! There is nothing that feels better than being praised for your work. Trust me, it feels good._

_I have to say that this is probably my most original work up to date. At least in the pairing. Get this, Zelos/Raine! Now don't kill me yet. Trust me, this works a lot better than you might suspect. I'm really hoping for others to be able to see the light in this pairing. Now this story still has some angsty stuff in it, but it ends on a higher note than my last to fanfics. I hope you enjoy reading what I think may be my best work to date._

_Yeah, don't own Namco or Tales of Symphonia (working on it though)_

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So Kratos is truly the seal for Origin. Fascinating! A human seal! It doesn't seem possible, yet it is. My head was a rush of questions that asked the same exact question each time: How is it possible? Some form of ancient magic? Magitechnology? Perhaps it is some kind of skill that only angels are capable of? So many questions on such an intriguing subject!

But…despite my scientific wonder of the situation, I still question why it has to be like this. Kratos was once our companion after all. He was our friend. He was one of the only humans Genis and I have ever met that did not judge us by our blood. We had become allies, friends. But even with all those good memories, there was no getting around the fact that if we wanted the pact with Origin, then Kratos would have to die. As if the fact that we were once allies made it hard to face him alone, now we know Kratos' secret. Lloyd…was his son.

"Lloyd is likely to be as confused as I am," I said to myself, a habit I've grown accustomed to. Personally, I was surprised that Lloyd could act so calm. But that was what worried me the most. It was all an act to make us feel as if nothing was wrong. If Lloyd had been a better actor, we might have fallen for it. Too bad for him not one of us was fooled. "Perhaps I'll feel better if I go talk to him. I think we could both use the company."

I walked through the hallway and paused as I saw a door a couple rooms down open. Zelos walked out of the room with a peculiar look on his face, as if he was debating about something and could not make up his mind. He began walking in my direction, though he made no sign that he had noticed me. He, Lloyd, Colette, and I were the only ones of our group that remained in Flanoir. The rest of our group had gone to Altessa's with the Flanoir doctor.

"Zelos?" I said to get his attention as he drew nearer. He jumped at hearing his name, almost drawing his sword that was at his side. When he saw that it was only me, he lowered his hand, yet he still did not seem at all relieved.

"Oh, hey Raine. What's up?" he asked, not in his usual flirty tone, but in a grim and sad one. His eyes seemed unusually dim, even in the faint light. In his hand he was clutching something round and glowing, no doubt the Cruxis Crystal that he had gotten from Seles. When he noticed my eyes on it, he quickly pocketed the item.

"I was about to ask you the same question. Is there something bothering you, Zelos? You haven't been yourself lately. This partly pleases me, and partly worries me…" I said. And that was absolutely true. The usual happy smile that he always had on was nowhere to be found. He walked with a kind of slouch and his hair seemed to have not been combed for a quite while.

"N-no! There's nothing the matter!" he said giving me a fake smile.

"Stop lying," I commanded him. He staggered back from the force of my voice. I stood there with my arms crossed, trying not to let down my gaze because of how off guard he seemed to have taken my comment. Finally, after a brief moment of silence, he sighed in defeat.

"You want to take a walk?" he asked. "And maybe talk for a little while?"

"Wha…? I…suppose that would be ok," I said as he walked by me. I looked down the hallway towards Lloyd's room. Well, I guess that I would have to talk to Lloyd later. With that, I ran after Zelos.

"So what is it that you want to talk about?" I asked catching up to him.

"Not here," Zelos said opening the door to the cold streets of Flanoir. I followed him, still very confused. For the first time ever, it seemed like Zelos was troubled about something.

"Hey Professor, I would like to ask you a question, but it's kind of personal," Zelos said as we walked through the snowy night.

"How personal?" I asked turning my head toward him.

"Family personal," Zelos responded. I didn't answer for a moment. "It's ok if you don't want to, it's just…"

"My father was the human in my family," I said interrupting him. "His name was Kloitz, one of the most esteemed non half elf scientists in Tethe'alla," I said looking up at the starless night. "When we were cast out of Hiemdall, we were constantly on the run. I never knew why. I became extremely curious why we were running around the time when my mother was pregnant with Genis."

"Sounds like a really though life," Zelos said sympathetically.

"It was," I said nodding. "I also never understood why they didn't want me to study. Ever. Yet the more they insisted me to discontinue, the more I yearned for it. I researched in secret, never telling my parents. Eventually, Genis was born and we traveled together a little while longer. A couple months later, my mother took us to the Otherworldly Gate. She and my father left saying that they needed to leave for a moment, and that they would be right back… I never saw my father again, and I only saw the woman that was once my mother. I understand now from the Elder of Exire why everything happened. We were on the run because the government wanted to enslave me, force me use my knowledge for their own selfish ambitions…"

"It sounds like your family really loved you. I wish mine loved me…" he said, catching my attention. "My old man was a jerk…he only married my mother because of needing the bloodline of the Chosen to continue. After I was born, he left her. We eventually heard that he married a half elf, and that Seles was born."

"So you and Seles don't have the same mother?" I asked slightly surprised. I had known for quite some time that they were half siblings, yet surprisingly, it never occurred to me that they had different mothers.

"Yeah. It wasn't long until he disappeared. No one really knows why, he just vanished off the face of Tethe'alla. Some say that he ran away from Seles' mother. Some say that he was murdered. I say good riddance," Zelos said with a surprising amount of anger in his voice.

"Zelos…" I whispered in shock.

"You want to sit down?" he asked, ignoring my astonishment and taking a seat in front of the old Flanoir library.

"You know," Zelos said leaning his head back and looking up at the sky, "this is the second time I've ever seen snow fall from the sky. The first time was when I was seven years old. I was so excited that I could finally build a snowman for the first time. Being raised in such high society, I was a little brat, so I begged my mother to help me. I was having the best time of my life, but then… the snowman suddenly fell down on top of me. When I next opened my eyes, it was snowing red."

"Red?" I asked confused.

"I turned to my mother to ask what was happening and…I saw her dieing from a magic attack," he said turning to face me. "It was her blood. When I approached her she looked up at me, put a hand on my shoulder, and then she said…"

I remained silent. By the way Zelos was acting I don't think I wanted to know what she said. "Zelos, it's okay," I said putting a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to talk about anything you don't feel…"

"She said that I should never have been born," he interrupted, rubbing his temples. I drew my hand back to cover my gapping mouth in horror. _"You should never have never been born!" _The words echoed through my mind over and over again. They felt so familiar to me. Perhaps it was because, semiconsciously, I have said it to myself a thousand times in the past.

"I asked Sebastian why she said that. It was only two years later that he finally told me that to her, I was a constant reminder of my father. It turned out that she hated my dad's guts as much as he hated hers," he said as his voice shook for a split second, yet was gone a second later.

"The person that killed my mother was Seles' mom. She thought that it was my fault that my father disappeared, and tried to kill me. She accidentally hit my mother instead. The next day she was sentenced to death. Seles would have gone to work in the Elemental Research Academy because she had both human and elf blood in her, but since she was part of the Chosen's bloodline, she was sent to the abbey instead. She spent day after day away from all other life besides the priests," he said sitting back. "I know that it's weird, but I kind of feel responsible for Seles being there. So I visited her a lot."

"You know she really looks up to you," I said sliding a tad bit closer to Zelos. Why? I didn't know.

"You won't blame me for not really believing that. Every time I visited she was always yelling at me and we got into fights. A lot. The strange thing was that I continued to visit her, try to befriend her, even though each try was as unsuccessful as the last. After I was about seventeen years old, I couldn't see her as often. Days turned into weeks, weeks to months, and then I eventually stopped seeing her because I was always was on the move."

_"I see that the Chosen is his usual self, wandering around aimlessly." _Seles' words were heard in my mind from that day when we got Zelos' Cruxis Crystal from her.

"I'm kind of jealous of you Raine. You and Genis love each other so much. Yet it seems that every time I tried to get closer to Seles, she pushed me away."

I guess Zelos' life wasn't as luxurious as I had thought. I could now see the mask that Zelos had constantly put on to hide his true feelings. He truly hated being the Chosen of Mana. I suddenly realized that I…also knew what Zelos was going through. To hide what you are, who you are, the feelings that you felt….

"I guess you and I have more in common than we thought," I said sighing. "We feel betrayed by our families, abandoned by the world, and condemned for the blood running through our veins. We were both put into rolls that we have no choice but to take."

"I guess you're right," Zelos said, though his face twisted in confusion. What was wrong with him?

"Look," he said pointing up at the sky suddenly. I followed his hand and saw a single star shining above us. For some reason, on that night, it seemed like the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

"Zelos, I know that you've suffered, but none of us wish that you were never born. Not Lloyd, not Sheena, not Genis, and not me," I said leaning up against his shoulder. I felt him tense up, but then he began to relax, slipping his hand inside my own. Something told me that he did it to comfort himself. Not to flirt with me or make me feel as if he loved be, but to feel that he was protected.

"Professor…" Zelos said still looking up at the sky. Suddenly, he let go of my hand and put his in his pocket. "Raine, I want you to have this," he said placing a small sphere in my hand.

"Your Cruxis Crystal," I said, transfixed by the glowing sphere. "Don't you…"

"Don't worry. By the time this is all over, I'm not going to need it anymore. Just hold onto it for me, okay? Think of it as a symbol that I'll have your backs," Zelos said closing my fingers around the stone. He then turned away and looked out into the night. "I can't believe that I'm joining the weaker side…"

"You've been on the weaker side for quite some time," I said looking into his blue eyes.

"I guess I have. But if this side is really so weak…" Zelos said gently brushing some of the hair in front of my eyes behind my ear, "Why do I feel stronger than I've ever been in my entire life?"

I turned my head away in embarrassment. Never mind what was wrong with Zelos, what was wrong with me? I've never acted like this while he talked to me in the past. I haven't acted like this around any man. His…words were coming from his heart. And for the first time in a long time, I was listening to mine.

"Tomorrow will probably be the last day of our journey, for better or worse. If I do survive, I think I'm going to go around the world to make it easier for half elves to be accepted," I said.

"Let me guess, Genis is going to go with you, huh?" Zelos asked.

"That is my guess."

"Well then, you'll need all the help you can get if you're going to have to deal with him. So…I guess I'll come with you!" Zelos said standing to his feet.

"What?!" I asked not able to hide my surprise.

"Yup. Zelos Wilder, Hero of Symphonia and Half Elves, I do like the sound of that," Zelos said smiling at me. "So…is it alright if I tag along?"

I tilted my head back and laughed softly. "Well…Genis is still having trouble with his advanced math…"

"Then it's settled!" Zelos said pulling me to my feet. "We're going on a journey to save the half elves! Watch out worlds! The unstoppable team of Zelos Wilder and Raine Sage has been formed!"

I couldn't help but laugh at Zelos' goofiness. I guess I'd only have to get used to it. It looked like he would be with me a little longer than expected. But oddly enough, I was okay with that. I finally looked up to the sky once more and I could swear that there were a hundred more stars in the sky.

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_You know what the best and weirdest thing about this pairing was. It was easy! I did this to give myself a challenge, but the story just seemed to write itself! I really don't know why nobody writes about this pairing more often._

_Now here is something that may excite/disappoint you. I have a small idea for a sequel to this fic. The problem is, it's very vague and my main focus is now a full length Naruto fic (coming soon to I may get the sequel someday, but not in the near future, that's for sure. I guess it could depend on the response to this story… Hope you enjoyed it!_


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